Fiber-opening machine



Aug. M, 3923.

J. B. REBER FIBER OPENING MACHINE Filed July 29, 1920 2 Sheets-Sheet l I Mai MBA/FY Aug. m, 1923.

11,465,235 J. B. REBER FIBER OPENING MACHINE Filed July 29, 1920 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 breakers where the straightenedout by combing, the Inainob-v Patented Aug. 14, was.

JAMES B. REBER, OF-AUBURN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOE'EO COLUMBIAN ROPE COMPANY,

OF AUBURN NEW YORK, CQRPOBATION OF NEW YORK.

FIBEReOPENING BIACHINE.

' Application filed July as, 1220. Serial No. assess.

To all whom it may concern. 7

Be it known that 1, JAMES B. ltnsnn, or Auburn, in [the countyor" Cayuga, inthe State otNew usefullmprovements in Fiber-Opening Machines, of whichthe following, taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exactdescription.

This invention reiatesto the manufacture ofrope and more particularly to a method oifland apparatus forpreparingthe hemp, jute or sisal fiber for entrance into the first combing machines, commonly known. as fiber hanks .are' first ject being to provide a more convenient, QXPBdllZlOHS and GCOIlOIIllCZtl method of handling the fiber froma more or less distant .pileof balesthrough the various-stages'oif preparation for the. breakers.

In other words, I have sought to providc I a continuous method or system whereby the several operations of opening, knot-cutting,

fiber-cuttingvand hank straightening and splitting may be successively performed while in transit from the more or less distant pile of bales to the breakers or first combing machines.

One of the specific objects is'to provide an endless conveyor for transferring the fiber from the distant stations to the breakers at such rate of speed as to enable the operators.

stationed along the conveyor to perform with the assistance of the continuous feed movement of the fiber diflerent operations upon the fiber while in transit and without interruption in the continuity of its con, veyance.

Another object is to install] asuitable cut ting machine such as a saw at an intermediate station between the supply station and breakersand in proximity to the con veyor where the excessivelylong be cut in sections while in transit without removing other than the severed sections.

from the conveyor, thus permitting the severed sections to "be immediately placed upon the conveyor for continued movement to the breakers. V p

7 Another objectis to' reduce to aminimum the losses incidental'to excessive handling .and, at the same time, to reduce the; labor and time required for supplying the necessary quantity oif fiber to the breakers Yorlnhave invented new and hanks may dotted lines portions of two of the machines commonly known as breakers, together with the several stations which the operators are placed for performing their individual work upon the fiber'wh ile the latter is carried along by the conveyor from the supply station to the breakers.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the apparatus shown in Figure l.

FigureB is an enlarged transverse vertical sectional view taken on line 3-3, Figure 2, looking toward the delivery end of the apparatus.

Figure 4 is a transverse vertical sectional view through thesame apparatus looking in the opposite direction.

In order that my invention may be clearly understood, I have shown by dotted lines in Figure 1 portions of two first combing machines commonly known as breakers --A-; which are arranged side by side in parallel spaced relation for receiving between them one end of an endless conveyor belt 1-, the opposite end of which extends to a distant station or stations B- where the bales of fiber are temporarily stored.

Each of these bales contains a considerable number of fiber hanks firmly bound together by suitable ties and each hank of fiber is knotted or tied for convenience in handling when the bale is opened, and, it. therefore.

follows that it is necessary to first cut the bale ties to release the hanks after which the knots or ties of the hanks must be cut to release the fiber. These individual fiber hanks are then cut into sections and the fiber of the individual sections is then straightened and split preparatory to feeding them into the breakers.

.Heretofore, so far as I am aware, it has been necessary to restack or to repile the hanks or sections thereof into receptacles provided therefor after each operation for conveyance from one. operator to another, resulting not only in considerable loss of time and the employment of a considerable force of operators, but also in more or less break; age, twisting, or knotting of the fiber by reason of the loading -and reloading of the same into and out of the receptacles, all oi which adds considerable to the cost of duction oi the rope, and the main object of my invention is to avoid this repetition ofboxing and handling by causing a continuous mechanical transportation of the hanks from their first release from the bales tothebreakers and assisting the. perform anee of the several 0perat1onsuponthehanks by the movement of the same whilein transit from the bale receiving station to said breakers. For this purpose, the endless- 'conveyor belt l is mounted upon suit- 1 which, in turn,

able supporting drums '2-- and 2---'-, are .revolubly mounted in upright end frames -'3- and -3-' atthe' bale'receiving station and between the front ends of the breaker machines -A' res'pectively, so as'to revolve about horizontal parallelg'axes, whereby, the upper sideof'the conveyor belt -1' may be 'caused to move; from the receiving station to the breakers,

or in the direction indicatedby arrow --X,- Fig. 2. i

Any suitable means may be provided tor rotating the drums with the conveyor thereon, and for this purpose, the drumsare preferably made in the form of sproe'ket wheels, while the conveyor is made in the form ola sprocket chainwhereby' positive motion is transmitted from the drums to the conveyor. The driving mechanism is preferably applied to the rear drum -2'- so ast'oheep the upper side of the. conveyor reasonably tight,- and for this purpose, the shaft of said drum is provided witha relatively large gear -l meshing with a pinion 5'- on the inner' end of a countershalit -'6 V which is j'ournaled in a suitable'bearing in OiiiPOWQl not shown.

The lower portions of; the end franies -3*- and ,8'- are connected by a pair of lengthwise tracks -l3 which are disposed in substantially the'same horizontal plane parallel with each other forreceiving supporting the lower side of the conveyor 1, but are spaced apart traiisverselyto form an int ervening slot or passageway for receiving. certain portions 'of i conveyor presently described,- said tracks I Pieter? being disposed in substantially the same horizontal plane as that of the lower side of the sprocket" drums -2- and 2- to cause 7 the lower-side of the chain to travel insubtent l y the ejam rlanek i he upp r 'rertien 9t and -3 --are connected by an upper lengthguard rails -16, the track -15 being pa-rallelwith the-lower track -13-- V and disposed in a horizontal plane substantially coincident with that of the upper side of the drums"''2 and 2-+ for supporting the upperside oftheen'dless conveyor 1.-1-'in substantially" the'saine plane, the guard rails --'l6"' being disposed directly above the;

the frames -2- wise track 7:15- and a pair of lengthwise track l 5-' -"in spaced relation thereto, and I al'soin transversely spaced felatlOll tOfoll'ili an intervening passage '-1'i"-'-, for certain portions of thee ljacent side of the convey 'or therethrough.

The conveyor preferably consists of a link belt artieulated'and apertured to nor respend to theteetli ojf the sprocket Wheels gers or spurs 18- prO ecting' outwardly therefrom at 'substantiallyright angles thereto. and of uniform length foren agmg and feeding the"'fiber hanks and seetions thereof from the bale opening station and intermediate points to the breakers as, said aki ae: edi ns are P a e ee b hand.

regular intervals th roughout its length with pair's otbpposite rollers -"1"- The link; belt or eonveyOl 1' is pro uniformly spaceclrelation longitudinally being provided with a ser es of pointedfiu' dap e t de alone e d tr th tter bneatliitliefguard rails 16 which serve tQ hQl l th upp r de f fl b l aga n upward displacement from the track Oi e Ql f rnQille, in this instance] two, power driven of the circular disk ype ine mteflj 1, u a e s pp ve frames which are installed at opposite sides of and'in' proxin'iity tothe interrmedi ate. portion of the conveyor -1, be-

tween the bale openiiig' station andbi'eaker ed RIBS -i01? e er ng efine i hi nks a he atter we. ar ed lo g bit he n r 10. 9: ie b le, t ce jv si' ee s; toward thebreakers, the'severed'sections be s' fer a are he spl t f a d a e as' they severed nea the hanks fffior easement to the reake s? one "of these "co 'veyojrs preferably serves 7 to siipp'ly the fiber for two tiffthebreak rs and for this purpose i s installedgso' to feed e fiher i tveent th mi a t em s; Sl fd by dotted lines V V tions,

at oppo'sit'e' sides o f -"the 'line of travel of separate si t s and parate Q i I l I l 130 tive stations perform .their respective operations upon the fiber bales, hanks and sections thereof in preparing the fiber for their respective breakers without interferenee with each other, for ex'ample,the members of each crew are-stationed at points along opposite sides of and in close proximthen replaced upon. the spurs of the conveyor to be carried with the remaining portions of the hanks thereon along to the next" station 'a where thehanks and sections thereof are finally straightened and split and V are then carried by the conveyor to station -e where the straightened and split hanks and sections thereof are removed from the conveyor and handed to the'feeders'at sta-' tion-f for feeding into the breakers, the several operations being practically continu ous without removal from the conveyor after the hanks are placed thereon at station The operation of my invention will now be ,readily understood upon reference to the foregoing description and the accompany- 'ing'drawing, and and itiwill be evident that the details of construction of the conveyor and cutter may be materially modified without departing from the spirit'of my invention, and, therefore, I do not wish to limit myself to the precise construction shown and described.

It is to be'noted, however, that the hanks of fiber having been fed to the conveyor are allowed to trail down from the conveyor, to which latter they are connected at one point only in the length ofthe fiber and by reason of this feeding and trailing of the fiber with and from the conveyor, the trailing portions 7 may be readily swung away from and toward'the conveyor. This way of feeding the,

hanks offiber continuously and in succession one after the other with their ends trailing from the feeding means is of importance, inasmuch as it permits the feed movement of the fiberitself to be utilized in performing thevarious operations at different points in its progressivemovement toward the breaking machine. The factthat the fiber is in motion permits the operatives to perform the several operations with very littleeifort and. requires almost no sk ll. as for example,

in cutting the sections of fiber from those hanks which are too lon the end of the hank is simply swung to one side or away from the conveyor and pressed against the cutter, the forward movement of the body of the hank continuing meanwhile and the severed end is then simply caught back on the conveyor and proceeds as a portion of that hank or of the next succeeding hank, or as a separate bunch of fibermaving toward the breakers. 7

So, too, the operative takes advantage of the movement of the fiber to assist him in opening up the hanks, cutting the knots and finally in splitting the hanks, where splitting is necessary.

For example, a portion of the hank i simply disconnected from the conveyor and held by the operative while tie portion of the hank still connected with the conveyor moves out of the way and the separated portion is dropped into engagement with the conveyor. All these operations are thus performed with the assistance of the forward progressive movement of the fiber itself in unison with the conveyor and, while a conveyortechnicaliy known as such in the art is the convenient form of feed means and will be specified as such, it will be understood that any means'whereby the hanks of fiber may be progressively fed in orderly succession and portions disengaged ano re-engaged with the feeding means would be a full equivalent of the conveyor herein specified,

WVhat I claim is:

1 In trope making machinery, the combination with a first combing machine or breaker, of a pair of horizontally disposed rotary drums, one of which is located near the breaker and the other at a distant sta tion, a stationary guide ntending between said drums in a horizontal plane substantially coincident with the upper sides there off, guard rails extending lengthwise of and above the guide in transversely spaced re lation, and an endless conveyer supported by the drums and provided with a lengthwise :row of'spurs projecting between and above the guard rails for feeding fiber hanks from the distant station to the breaker, and power driven means for rotating the drum nearest the breaker and causingthe upper side of the conveyor to travel from the distant station toward said breaker.

2. In rope making, the combination or first combing machine or breaker, of an endless conveyor leading from a distant station to said breaker and provided with spurs for engaging and feeding fiber hanks from said station to the breaker, means for driving the conveyor, and a hank cutting device intermediate the ends of the V conveyor and in proximity thereto.

3({The process of preparing hanks of fiber for breaking'in themanufacture of rope and cordage, which consists in feeding the hanks veyor while leaving them free to be swung away from-and toward the conveyor anct while said hanks are lllJIlQlllOIl sw nging in succession to a continuously moving coni- I for hreaklng 1n the manufacture of rope and veyor, trailing saicl hanks from said conthem away from and towarcl' the conveyor;

- and simultaneously treating the trailing portions of the fiber to remove the knots and order the same ready for the breaker.

4. The process of preparing hanks of fiber for breaking in the manufacture of rope and cordage, which consists in trailing'successive hanks from a continuously moving conveyor while leaving the same free to be swung toward and from the conveyor and while sairl hanks are in motion swinging the trailing portions ofthe same away from the conveyor. and simultaneously severing the extremities thereof from the portions attachecl to the conveyor.

ease 5. The process of preparing hanks ofiiber cordage, which consistsin' trailingsuceessive hanks from a continuously moving conveyor while leaving thje'same free to be swung to-,, ward and: from the conveyor and while sai cl hanks are in motion swinging the trailing portions of the sameaway ifrom the "conveyor, simultaneously severing'the extremities thereof from'the portions'attao'hecl to the conveyor, and then attaching the severed portionsthemselves to the conveyor. 7

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 23d clay of July 1920.

JAB/IE8 s enna.

Witnesses:

ll. 'lihCHAsn V 7 HowAnn P, DnNIsoN. 

